In the day to day operations of a hospital, patients frequently are moved from one surface to another surface. In many instances, patients are not ambulatory and are moved via a gurney with the assistance of nursing and/or medical staff. For example, when a patient undergoes surgery, even an ambulatory patient may be rendered non-ambulatory by virtue of the operation and/or due to the effects of anesthesia.
Non-ambulatory patients typically are moved via a gurney whenever there is a need to move a patient to a new area. For example, after surgery, the nursing and/or medical staff typically transfer the patient to a gurney for transport from the surgery room to the recovery room. Generally, the patient stays on the gurney while in the recovery room. Upon recovery, the patient is moved on the gurney to the hospital room. Once at the hospital room, the patient is moved from the gurney to the hospital bed by nursing and/or medical staff.
Some prior art devices used to move a patient are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,528,704; 5,483,709; 6,073,291; 7,007,330; 7,415,738; 7,574,761; and 9,314,388; and in U.S. Patent Publication Numbers 2003/0159212, 2005/0076437, 2013/0042414, and 2016/0367422, each of which is incorporated by reference herein. The present disclosure discloses a device that provides improvements and/or alternatives to these prior art devices.